Then, in November 2016, Christopher Bathum was arrested for some very bad crimes. His business of running sober living homes came to an end then. While he said he was a psychotherapist who wanted to help people with addictions, the truth was much worse. People who were hurt by Christopher are the focus of ABC News show 20/20: Rehab Mogul. It talks about the many crimes he did and the people he hurt. So, let’s find out what happened after that, shall we, now?
Who is Christopher Bathum?
Christopher co-founded Seasons in Malibu, California, which is said to be a “luxury rehab.” It wasn’t long after this that he used what he learned about how things worked to start Community Recovery Los Angeles, which later grew into a chain of about twenty facilities in both states. The company became famous because it claimed to be a place where people who had addictions could go to get help. There were pools, private chefs, and yoga for the people who lived at the facility, as well as other things.
But in 2015, a lot of stories about Christopher’s past and how he treated patients came out. The Los Angeles Weekly did a story on Christopher and found out that he was not a psychotherapist and never went to college. His job was to clean pools, and he was trained in hypnotherapy. Not only that, but Christopher has been convicted of felony crimes before for selling things on eBay that he didn’t send. He was also a meth and heroin addict who had overdosed in a hotel while taking drugs with other people who were in the same room.
As you can see, this isn’t even the beginning. Soon, many patients at his place said that he had sexually assaulted them. Those who were addicted were prey for Christopher. He gave them company cars and iPhones, but he also tried to get them to take drugs. Some of his former clients say he gave them drugs and sexually assaulted them.
Roseann Stahl, a former employee, said that she was fired after she saw Christopher taking drugs and having sex with clients, so she quit. It was even found in his car at one point. Several former patients say that Christopher sexually assaulted them between 2012 and 2016, with most of them taking place in his treatment facilities. The sexual assault accusations were not the only thing Christopher and his CFO, Kirsten Wallace, did. They were both part of a scheme to defraud insurance. Their patients didn’t know that the two had bought insurance policies in their names without their permission. Some of them charged former clients and billed the companies for services that never happened, even though they were never done.
Christopher Bathum: Where is He at Present?
During a court hearing in February 2018, when Christopher was 56, he was found guilty of 31 charges. These charges included rape, sexual penetration by a foreign object, forcible oral copulation, and sexual abuse. It will be in January 2020 that he will not plead guilty to several counts of grand theft and insurance fraud, as well as one count of identity theft and one count of money laundering. A judge gave Chris 52 years in prison because of his sexual crimes. He also got 20 years for the fake health insurance scheme, which was estimated to cost $175 million. Records say that he is still in prison at the Ironwood State Prison in Blythe, California. To be a sex offender, Christopher had to register for life. In November 2036, he’ll be able to get out of prison.